If a doctor or another medical provider makes a mistake with respect to your treatment, you may be eligible for compensation for any harm you suffered as a result of that mistake. But in order to qualify, it must be proven that your medical provider was negligent in a meaningful way.
How exactly is negligence determined in a medical malpractice lawsuit?
The Basics of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that happens when any medical practitioner or healthcare provider causes harm through an action or omission that seriously deviates from what a reasonable professional in that situation would do. In other words, when a medical provider makes a serious enough mistake that causes harm, they may be liable for medical malpractice.
There are many types of actions and omissions that qualify for medical malpractice, including wrong diagnoses, missed diagnoses, problematic prescriptions, surgical errors, and much more. Sometimes, medical malpractice is a simple, almost trivial mistake that causes very little damage, but other times, medical malpractice can kill or maim people.
At the heart of any medical malpractice claim is a negligence claim. You must be able to show that your medical provider was legally negligent if you want to win any compensation. Unfortunately, this is more difficult than it sounds.
The Basics of Negligence
The basic legal elements of negligence are:
Duty
First, you must establish that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff. This is usually easy to do in a medical malpractice case, because you only need to show that the plaintiff enlisted the defendant’s medical services.
Breach
Second, you must establish a breach of that duty, which is often difficult in a medical malpractice claim. You must show that this action or omission deviated from reasonable actions or omissions in the profession, and there’s ample room for reasonable mistakes in our current frameworks.
Harm
Third, you must show that harm resulted from this interaction. If you didn’t suffer any compensable damages, you won’t have a lawsuit.
Causation
Finally, you must show a causational link between the breach of duty and the harm that you suffered.
This is also difficult to show in many medical malpractice claims; you need to be able to prove that whatever you experienced was a direct result of the medical provider’s actions or words.
How to Prove Negligence in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
These are just some of the ways that you can prove negligence in a medical malpractice lawsuit:
Expert Opinions
It’s common for patients to get a second opinion whenever they want more information or another perspective. This typically means talking to an analogous medical provider or expert in their respective field, giving them the same information to see what conclusions they can draw.
In many medical malpractice cases, the strongest evidence you can provide is opinions from similar medical providers who believe your original medical provider was negligent or mistaken in their initial actions. In many cases, your lawyer will recommend that you hire an expert witness to help build your case.
Documentation of Injuries/Harm
You also need to be able to provide evidence of injuries or harm you suffered as a result of this medical interaction. Did you have to undergo further treatment? Did you experience new injuries? Did you miss out on treatment that could have made you better?
Industry Standards
Your lawyer can help you determine what the industry standards are for this type of event or occurrence. How common is it for doctors to misdiagnose or fail to diagnose this illness? What types of treatments are normally recommended for it?
Historical Precedent
Any medical provider that significantly deviates from historical standards and practices is much more likely to be found liable for malpractice.
Witness Testimony
Witness testimony can be powerful in establishing key events and providing evidence of negligence. Depending on the nature of your case, this may or may not be possible.
Why Proving Negligence Can Be Hard
There are many reasons why proving negligence can be difficult in a medical malpractice setting. As we’ve seen, there are multiple discrete elements to prove. There are limited types of evidence that you can use to prove your claim. And on top of that, doctors and other medical providers hold a lot of trust in our society, and judges and juries are typically very sympathetic to doctors who make mistakes.
Even so, if you have good legal representation, if you have solid evidence supporting your claims, and if you’re willing to put in a bit of extra effort, you’ll be in a much better position to prove negligence.
That means you can hold your medical providers accountable – and you’ll stand a much better chance of winning the compensation you deserve.
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